Monte Mohr: Convert garage to room, just temporarily

Oct. 6, 2013

Written by

Monte Mohr

For The Tennessean

Andrew from Mt Juliet asks: I’m thinking of closing in my garage to add more living space to my home since we just had our third child, but thought I should run the idea past an expert. Is that a good idea or not?

Well Andrew, I understand the temptation to do so. It is relatively inexpensive square footage to add to your home when you feel like you’re busting at the seams. The challenge to consider is always keeping your home “resalable.”

What you have to remember is, even though right now the immediate goal is simply taking care of your growing family’s needs, you never want to negatively influence the potential future market value of your home, because some day you’re going to want to sell the place.

You see, the way it works in today’s world, when someone begins their home search they typically sit down at their computer and type in the basic ingredients of what they are looking for in one of many real estate search portals available (i.e.: 3-bedroom, 2-bath, 2-car garage, 1,800 square feet, built after 2000, in a particular part of town, etc.). And IF your home is missing any of those typically requested criteria, your home becomes invisible to those potential home buyers. We don’t want that to happen if we can help it!

I would consider adding that square footage if the space is really needed and the timing is just not right to simply put it on the market now to sell and upgrade to that 4- or 5- bedroom place — with the idea of being able to put it back to garage status down the road.

In other words, do things such as: leave the garage door in place, build a wall approximately 6 feet inside the door. Use indoor/outdoor carpet or floor tiles; do not do any of the more expensive type of improvements like adding a bathroom, etc. Keep those improvements to a minimum cost, so that you are not increasing your base investment so much that it will hurt you to tear out those improvements at a later date if you need to.

By leaving the garage door in place and moving the wall in, you create a couple of options:

1. You’ve left yourself some storage space for the lawn mower.

2. When you do decide to sell, you can market the home with a garage and state in the remarks, “seller is willing to put garage back in place.” Then you will be able to do so at a minimal cost.